Blueberry Buckle

Early in my career in the Boston area, I worked with a lovely woman named Jane. One day, Jane announced that she would be bringing in some of her Blueberry Buckle the following morning.

The Blueberry Buckle was originally Jane’s grandmother’s recipe, and I soon learned from my co-workers that this was considered a Very Special Event in the office! And the next morning, the air in the office was literally buzzing with anticipation as we waited for Jane to arrive with The Buckle.

We all watched as Jane finally walked off the elevator – carrying her blueberry buckle – with a big, knowing smile on her face. We followed Jane to the office kitchen and collectively said “ooh!” as she revealed the blueberry buckle in the baking pan, which she had thoughtfully wrapped in a dish towel so it would stay warm during her commute to the office. Carefully she served each of us a piece – and then we dove in!

A buckle is an old-fashioned single layered cake interspersed with berries and with a streusel-type topping that “buckles” as it cools. There is one word for that blueberry buckle: sublime. Not too sweet, perfectly moist, warm and bursting with berries. OK – that was more than one word, but this is a must-try recipe!

Jane was nice enough to share her recipe with us that day, and we’re sharing it with you. To Jane and her grandmother, wherever you are…thank you for sharing your recipe, and I hope we have done your family recipe proud!

This recipe was originally published on A Family Feast in January 2013. The photos and recipe have been updated.

For the topping

Instructions

In a mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and shortening until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix until blended. Then add the milk and mix again until blended.

In a separate bowl, sift together the 2 cups flour, baking powder and salt. Fold the dry mixture into the wet mixture slowly until blended. Fold in the blueberries.

Grease and flour a 9×9 or 8×10 pan. Spread the blueberry batter evenly into the prepared pan.

To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour, and cinnamon. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle over the cake mixture in the pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes for an 8×10 pan or 45-50 minutes for an 9×9 pan (until cake tester comes out clean). Other size baking pans may be used – just adjust the cooking time accordingly.

It’s in the oven now. I can’t wait to taste it. My Mom always made blueberry cake or bb muffins with blueberries that my Dad would pick in the wild. We are lucky here in the North to get such a wonderful fresh treat. We freeze them and have them all year! Thanks for posting this recipe.

I’m planning on making this for the second time for my husband to take to work. Do you think it would still come out good if i combined all the ingredients and put it in the fridge over night and then just popped it in the oven in the morning? I always get nervous when making something for other people in a way that i’ve not made it before. It was wonderful the first time around and I really want it to come out the same this second time.

Hi Rose! I haven’t tried refrigerating it overnight before baking… I would be concerned that it might not rise during the baking process if it is mixed that far in advance! You could measure everything out the night before and then mix it together as soon as you wake up? That might help save some time! Hope that helps! Martha

Just a suggestion: If you are using frozen blueberries, toss them with a bit of flour before you mix them with the other ingredients. That will help keep the blueberries from “bleeding” all over the cake and making your crumbs blue.

I’ve made other blueberry breakfast cakes. Looking forward to this one!

Hi Chris – I’ve never doubled it myself but I’m sure it would work if you can find the right size pan! A 9×13 might be a little too small since the cake rises a bit as it bakes. Let us know how it comes out! Thanks!

could you substitute other types of fruit? like chopped peaches in this recipe? I’m thinking it peach buckle would be delicious and don’t see a reason it wouldn’t work, but I am not an expert baker. I mean, I can follow a recipe but making changes to baking recipes is not my forte.

I just made this last night and my husband fed most of it to some very talented and hard working guys rebuilding our deck while I was at work today. They loved it!
I am glad I packed a piece for supper at work tonight-otherwise, I would be out of luck.
I like to use cinnamon and a bit of nutmeg into the cake batter – and a teaspoon of vanilla. I sub brown sugar for half of the the called-for white sugar in the cake portion of the recipe (1/2 white/1/2 brown) I don’t touch the topping ingredients; I don’t think you can improve on that!

Martha, I so look forward to your posts, this one may be my favorite. We love fresh blueberries, having just vacuumed packed several two cup containers for our freezer, this will be baked this week.
Can’t wait to see the pictures of the new granite counter tops.
Your love of family,home and food is heart warming!!
Linda

Thank you so much Linda! You’ve made our day and Jack and I both so appreciate you taking the time to comment! 🙂 I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do! We just had the new countertops installed this past week and have a few little bit of trim work to add around the island. Once that is complete, we’ll share the finished kitchen photos! Thanks again for writing to us today!

Thank you so much for this recipe! Our neighbor returned from a trip to Maine, and guess what she brought us? Beautiful blueberries! I have been hoarding some of them in the freezer for a special recipe like this!! I can hardly wait to get in the kitchen to make this visually tempting blueberry buckle! And just like every recipe I have tried from A Family Feast, I have no doubt, it will be delicious! Have a great week!
Sherry Myers

I eat blueberries like they’re going out of style in the summer. This buckle makes me salivate. It’s so pretty, and so delicious looking. I also am smitten with that blueberry towel you show in the photo! Just thought I’d mention that too. Cute!

That’s so awesome that Jane gave you the recipe! Recipes that literally make people buzz and stop them in their tracks are the types of recipes that I live for! I bet this does have the perfect burst of blueberry too!

I tried this recipe on Tuesday for a women’s brunch and it was a hit! Very moist and tasty! I am making it again today (Friday) for dessert for a potluck dinner. Twice in a week means it is a winner. I did not have any whole milk so I used almond milk. It worked great!

Hi Rachel – We haven’t tried adding lemon zest to the batter but I think it would be delicious! It shouldn’t change the texture very much at all, and lemon and blueberries are very complementary flavors so I think it is a great idea! (I’ll have to try that myself the next time we make this recipe!) 🙂

My daughter made the blueberry buckle for a gathering and it was a hit…..it brought me back to my childhood in Maine…..I can see why it is a hundred year old recipe…..this will be around for another hundred……thanks for sharing!

Hi Sana – I’m not sure about bananas, but we’ve made a mixed berry version (blueberries, strawberries and raspberries – http://www.afamilyfeast.com/mixed-berry-buckle/) and I think peaches or other stone fruits would probably work too! So glad you enjoy the recipe as much as we do!

This came out amazing! I tweaked a few things to make it vegan for my husband who has been vegan for over two years. Only difference was a flax egg instead of a regular egg and almond milk instead of cows milk. Oh and also vegan butter. I ended up having to add just a little bit more flour to the crumble and ended up having to bake it for just over an hour, but……..perfection! Thanks, I will definitely be making this again. My husband loves it.

Loved it, I only had 1 cup of fresh blueberries so I added 1 cup of fresh sliced strawberries and omitted the shortening for salted butter. I didn’t add salt according to the recipe because the butter had it.
Moist and delicious!